It may boil down to this:
Let us matchup the two best players respectively:
Which superstar pair is performing better in THIS playoffs:
Duncan/Parker or Lebron/Wade ?????????????????????????
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It may boil down to this:
Let us matchup the two best players respectively:
Which superstar pair is performing better in THIS playoffs:
Duncan/Parker or Lebron/Wade ?????????????????????????
b2b won't happen. The Spurs caught lucky breaks throughout the playoffs. That is not going to happen next year.
Other teams will be making changes, the league will not be the same next year.
B2b is the talk we will hear and everyone will want them to bring back the same exact team. Bad move.
The Spurs need to get better next year than what the are now, younger and more athletic.
Spurs can put up a line up of capable scorers against the Pacers. Pure defensive teams can only score a certain amount of points. If you get 95+ a game, chances are they can't score enough to beat you.
Spurs will struggle to outscore Miami and struggle on defense. They can still win but they will have to play their best defense, improve on rebounding, get good ball movement and have consistent three point shooting. We won't win just going inside to Duncan and Splitter. I'm worried about our rebounding in the playoffs.
I am not afraid, but I still look at the Heat as the favorites. Roy Hibbert is responsible for the offensive struggles, he is just huge in defending the paint. Tim and Tiago are awesome, but anybody who dies not think the Heat will attack the basket alot stronger against the Spurs are just crazy. And by doing that, they will get their offensive flow back. The few minutes Mike Mliller played last night are an indication for what is to come in the Finals ...
I want us to win, so I want the Pacers. Aside from anything else, HCA is huge.
The officiating swung heavily from OKC-SA to OKC-Miami. While I am not opposed to conspiracy theories perpetrated by Stern, I think its more referee weakness than anything that results in travesties like we saw in OKC-SA game 6. First off, I think Harden's epic flopping in our series was reviewed heavily by the league and that jig was completely up before he set foot on the court for game #1 of the 2012 finals. Harden was so shocked at the abrupt end to his Oscar-worthy run, he never recovered. Durant was affected to. Remember the flop on his lean into Manu taking away a basket + free throw from us? Against the Heat, LeBron was allowed to barrel into a fully set Durant for the and one. Completely different story from conf finals, and it was great to see OKC know what being jobbed by the refs feels like, so we can thank Miami for that.
Also we now have the replays late in games. Remember those late bad calls against OKC in game 6 once again? Kawhi smashed in the head and out of bounds call against us. Phantom and one for Westbrook v Parker? While I am not sure those are all reviewable, have to think once again that series or even game had a large impact on rules changes heading into this season. I do credit the league for that.
The extreme faggot team in this mix is Miami with floppers like Battier and thugs like Bird Man. Fortunately the Bird has placed himself on thin ice now and the refs are doing a better job calling a balanced game and not giving James superstar calls. If they can figure out the screen man is not allowed to tackle the defender and otherwise put an end to Battier's antics, I love our chances here.
I think this is best stated Duncan/Parker = LeBron/Bosh.
Then we can say Manu > Wade because he is healthier.
From there we have Splitter/Diaw/Leonard/Green > Birdman/Haslem/Allen/Chalmers
At the bottom of each rotation you have Bonner/Neal/Joseph > Battier/Cole (more versatility and better shooting)
Did I miss anyone?
They have the best player on the planet and very talented group of role players. "Afraid" isn't the right word, but the Spurs should maintain an appropriate fear. If there's one lesson to take from the Pacers it's that you need to play up your size advantage.
Isn't this their third Finals (if they make it) in a row? And some of them played in the Olympics? They could very well be worn out at this point.
He didn't look broken down when they were winning 27 straight.
Besides, he's about due for another dose of banned performance enhancers getting his knee drained. :lol
And I don't get why people aren't scared by LeBron. Both the Heat and the Pacers knew they had to win Game 5, and the Pacers shut down everybody else, yet LeBron fought through everything they had like he was Jimmy Caan at the end of freaking Rollerball. He's come through in every single game this postseason where they knew they needed to win, and it's going to be hell trying to overcome that.
I think we can win this series, but I think it's going to be an epic battle. We could easily be down to a 7-man rotation by Game 5, and we'll have a legion of cliff jumpers along the way. I just trust our guys enough this season to get us through it.
That 27 regular season games in a row push might actually have cost them a championship. Lebron has always had a problem overemphisizing the regular season. Wade is paying the price.